GOOD MORNING lovelies! Yes, I am a bit too cheery for this Saturday morning. But I can't help it--it's the weekend plus, it is freezing here out on the east coast. Let's be honest, I'm probably dying a little. Now onto more important stuff like today's SASSY SATURDAY post! This week, we're here to talk about spot stealing, specifically at the barre. We all know barre spots are pretty much territorial. The oldies get the best spots aka closest to the teacher and the mirror, while the newbies are stuck probably in a corner somewhere, where there may or may not be a mirror and if there is, there's probably a line running down the center. Well that's great.

So I guess there are two parts to this--one defending the oldies and one for the newbies, just be fair. :)

Vaganova Academy kids *___*

PRO OLDIESdisclaimer: "oldies" does not mean you're an old fart, although you may be.

﻿honestly, you've been there longer and you deserve it. your reward for 10 years of blood, sweat and tears? this is it. the ultimate barre spot.

you probably will be getting a solo/principal role this year, so you need the attention. can't risk making the school, the teacher, or you look bad.

you show up early enough to snag this spot each time. now people just assume it's yours.

maybe i just have a resting mean face... i'm actually a nice person. i'd give you my spot if you asked. HAH.

i spent years in the corner and have finally gotten to this point. just give me this spot for a few more years pls.

i'm obviously a better dancer than all the newbies. they don't even know how to correct themselves in the mirror. why waste space?

the teacher and i share inside jokes that newbies can't possibly understand. they would feel so lost standing so close..

PRO NEWBIESfirst, the term "newbies" is used loosely. it could mean, new person to a class, new person to a level, to ballet in general, etc etc.

i'm never going to get any better if i keep standing in the corner. does the teacher even know i exist?? I NEED CORRECTIONS NOW.

these old farts need to step aside for the fresh and young to take over, like srsly.

people who believe in barre spots are honestly just obnoxious and pretentious. standing closer to the mirror or the center doesn't mean anything. -_-

shove me in the corner for barre and i'll show you what i can do in center...

but honestly, when it comes down to it, it's just a barre. if you down right suck, i'm sure your teacher will come correct you. at the same time, if you're just spectacular, good for you, and you will get complimented.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY ❤ Hope yours is going splendid. If not, we have a Sassy Saturday post to add some cheer to your day. The topic of the day is relationships, or lack thereof. Know what I means?

Honestly, we spend WAY too much time in classes and rehearsals to have time for that special someone. Like actually, don't make me pick between dance or our relationship. This isn't gonna work out. I love you BUT I love dance more. kthanksbye. Especially as a ballet dancer, we all know how tragic love stories end up being - aka Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, La Bayadere.. Being together in the afterlife doesn't count.

Aside from not having enough time to spend with someone else, in the time WE DO have, we probably spend a lot of that "shipping" other dancers and people for that matter. Guilty. I mean, just look at us and our Spring Collection (sneak peek on Instagram). WHO DOESN'T LOVE MEDORA + CONRAD?

But yes, if you're sad on this couple day, just know that there are millions of dancers out there just like you, who've decided to pick dancing over someone else. Hey, you're single but at least your pirouettes aren't?

You know what's frustrating? When you finally have perfected your signature look and someone goes and copies it. Like GURL, do you know how long it took for me to look like this? It probably took me a few weeks to design this look. At least split your hair on the other side or wear a different colored leo. Like srsly. WHAT?

Janie Taylor, New York City Ballet

Tyler Peck, New York City Ballet

Gretchen Smith, New York City Ballet

You think coming up with your own style is easy? Yep, I'm pretty sure that most people just wake up and are like YEAH I'M TOTALLY GONNA ROCK THIS LOOK FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. aka look at these beautiful dancers up here. DID THIS TAKE A DAY?

Reasons why copying others is NOT OKAY.

﻿Yes, imitation is the highest form of flattery but nO. Copying exactly what others are doing is not okay. That is why copyright laws exist.

On a side note, it is completely fine to be inspired by someone. Just make a distinction.

It's just plain rude.

It makes for a super awkward situation--awkward twinning. Are you BFFLS?

Awkward situation number two--who was the original? Obviously the copycat is going to say they were the one. -___- #shotsfired

^ You just made yourself an enemy in the class. AAAND the drama begins.

** If you got permission to copy, then it is totally okay. ONLY IF YOU GOT PERMISSION.

*** Technique is the one thing that is probably okay to copy. I mean, if you see someone do 1398048234 pirouettes, it's prob good for you to try too. :-)

**** However, artistry is a little iffy.. each dancer is supposed to do it a little differently.

***** If you unintentionally copy, please make sure there are no hard feelings. Cause honestly, most people are quick to jump to conclusions.

As you may or may not already know, Alexandra and I live on separate coasts. I'm on the east in the beautiful and cold New York City, while Alexandra is the west in the beautiful and sunny Los Angeles. It's a great challenge being almost 3,000 miles away from each other. But I think it has made us closer than ever before. :)

I'm here today to ONE, announce our awesome new Spring '15 collection, which in my opinion is SUPER adorable. I'm very excited to see how these turn out. Sneak peaks soon ;) SECOND, I'm also announcing that YES, our blog is officially back from it's hiatus. Honestly, it has been way too long. Both Alexandra and I have been super busy over the holidays, etc. but now we're making a comeback. Get ready for more SASSY SATURDAY posts! We know it's your fav. It's ours too. In addition, I'll also be blogging here regularly about random and possibly creative things. I think it's fun for you all to see what goes into making our punny apparel and the adventures we have doing so. PLEASE comment below if you want to hear more or want me to stop, HAHA. Like I would. But honestly, if it's that bad, I'll stop. :'(

Okay so FIRST, our SPRING '15 COLLECTION! We've decided to launch two new shirts for everyone. One is a wide-neck pullover in white (gasp, we know.) and the other is a long sleeve slouchy tee, also wide-neck, but in navy. Yes, adding some color into our collection. #butactually

The two are based off of the story ballets, Coppelia and Le Corsaire! These two puns were actually thought of last year along with our Odile and Fouette pullovers. The designs at the time were meh, so we decided to wait it out a bit for inspiration. We're so glad we have! And SO, we are happy to say that the Spring '15 collection will officially launch the first day of spring, March 20th! As you may or may not have seen on our Instagram, we are also restocking everything as well, so WE'LL HAVE EVERYTHING.

Hello everyone! We are back from a hiatus now that the twirling contest is done.

{ ICYMI: We hosted a "twirling" contest on our Instagram page, where dancers could tag us to enter and our fans would vote! After two weeks of voting, we were happy to announce that Nicole Prefontaine was our twirling champ and the winner of a Fouette pullover! Congrats again!! Two audience favorites, Natalie Barbis and Lou Spichtig were awarded $30 to shop at our store. Finalists Samantha Schaubach and Mara Leyendecker were awarded $15 each. }

We've gotten a few questions about what it means to be "ethically sourced," why are our products so expensive, etc., so we decided it would be good to explain everything in a blog post. From these questions, we've also realized that we should advertise more about this! Thanks for the feedback. We are always looking to make improvements.

Question number one.

What does it mean to be "ethically sourced?"

Ethically sourced means that the products that we have are obtained by ethical means. Specifically to us, this means that everyone who has worked on our products were paid fair wages (at least minimum wage) and work in sweatshop-free environments (they actually get breaks, work in safe environments and don't work for 20 hours straight--because that happens.) Everything is handmade, so it is even more important that factory workers are fairly compensated for their work. In addition, all our printing is done by hand as well.

Question number two.

Where are your products made?

Our products are made in the sunny city of Los Angeles. Both our apparel and printing happens in this beautiful city. (:

Question number three.

Why are your products more expensive than other brands?

You mean than discount dance? Why yes, of course we are more expensive. And we are proud of it. We are shoppers as well, and love finding awesome CHEAP products. But those products come at a cost (pun intended). While other brands pride themselves in providing cheap tops for only $20 or less, we certainly don't. Cheap products also mean cheap ways of getting those products, aka cheap labor. When manufacturing is outsourced to overseas, the cost of making a shirt could be 50 cents! To us, that just isn't fair. It isn't fair to the worker, to his or her family, to the country. Why should they be paid less and treated less equal just because they live in a different country? Again, being fair is something very, very important to us. If you want to find cheap dance-wear, look elsewhere. #sorrynotsorry

There are more than 44 million Americans who make less than $1,000 a month. Why is it important for us to manufacture our products in the US? That's why. Help support the labor force in the US and give theses families a chance to live the way you live for once.